In the elegant setting of the Omni Frisco Hotel at the Star in Dallas, the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) enthusedly announced the winners of the prestigious AGTA Spectrum & Cutting Edge 2023 awards on 26 October. With a record-breaking turnout, the competition saw a significant increase in entries, with a focus on sapphires, tourmalines, tsavorite garnets, and green gemstones.
AGTA CEO John W. Ford Sr. said this year’s awards were among the best ever, highlighting growing excellence in the world of jewellery. The AGTA also announced Omni Hotels as the venue for the coming years, with a view to bringing this extraordinary competition to other prestigious locations.
The 2023 edition of the AGTA Spectrum & Cutting Edge Awards was a celebration of sparkling gems and artistry that highlighted constant innovation and impeccable taste in the jewellery universe.
This article will specifically explore the gems that took top honours in their respective Cutting Edge Awards categories amidst distinctive cuts and dazzling colours, demonstrating the immense craftsmanship of the winning artists.
The first category examined is the one called All Other Cut Gemstones, open to all gems with special cuts made using traditional cutting techniques. The winner is the artist Desmond Chan, in collaboration with Joyce Wang (cutter) and Scott Laborie (Gem Diagram Designer), who cut a beautiful 9.49-carat peach Mahenge Malaya garnet, entitled “The Sparkle in Her Eye”.
In the Carving category, open to any natural gemological material carved in any style, the first prize went to Patrick Dreher (Dreher Carvings LLC) with a 515-gram heliodor sculpture entitled “The Green Jewel – Frog on Heliodor”, representing a highly detailed frog.
Shining in a deep blue is the winning gemstone in the Classic Gemstones category, in which extraordinary samples of rubies, emeralds and sapphires with traditional cutting techniques are taking part. Ron Rahmanan (Sara Gem) took the prize with an unheated, cushion-cut Royal Blue sapphire weighing 20.21 carats.
The category of Innovative Faceting, open to any gem showcasing innovative facets and lapidary techniques, was won by a 17.13-carat tanzanite titled “Nine of Diamonds”, created by Bryan D. Drummond (Drummond Gems & Jewelry).
Ben Kho (Kho International) secures the top spot in the North American Mined Gemstones section, a category exclusively featuring gems extracted in North America (United States and Canada). The winning gem is a 10.42-carat oval Portuguese-cut rhodochrosite from Colorado.
In the Objects of Art category, which is open to sculptures, bowls, inlays and gemstone materials not intended to be worn, the winner is the very special creation by Patrick Dreher (Dreher Carvings LLC): an agate fish weighing 457 grams, enriched with 18k yellow gold, jasper and rock crystal and entitled “Playtime”.
The Pairs and Suites category open to two or more gems considered as a single set, sees Joseph Ambalu (Amba Gem Corp.) as the winner. It is a suite of 4 oval Paraiba tourmalines with a total weight of 31.01 carats from Mozambique.
Finally, in the Phenomenal Gemstones category, open to any gem featuring unique and surprising optical characteristics, such as cat’s eyes, color variations, and more, the first place goes to a splendid 28.15-carat oval black opal cut by David Nassi (100% Natural Ltd.).
